I love this episode. Its quite straightforward after the more complex themes of Terminal, but this gives the series the chance to introduce Soolin, the Base, Slave and Scorpio properly. The design work - bar the Sea Devil thing - is good throughout. I really like the big serpent that attacks Vila and Dayna. Interesting that such a creature should exist on Terminal - is it the next stage of man's evolution after the Links ?(though after reading that godawful Frank Herbert book 'Dune', I'm quite wary of visions of mans evolution that involve people turning into enourmous phallic wormds!)

I love the cheeky way that Boucher rips off Oscar Wilde's 'Picture of Dorian Gray'. Such literary plundering was usually more of a Doctor Who thing, but it works well here.

Dorian is a great character - evil, charming, sexy and wierd in equal measures. He's clearly bisexual - the look he gives Avon when he says he can indulge 'any vice' is very suggestive. His stuttering over the word 'partner' implies not just the first creature was originally his lover, but also that he regrets what he has done - recalling his literary namesake's agonies over the death of the innocent Sybil Vane. His kissing of Soolin is interesting. He obviously enjoys it but he also seems to be showing her to to the crew as a temptation - a honey trap. I wish that the actor playing Egorian in 'Orbit' had given as good a peformance as Geoffrey Burridge.

Like Josette in 'Aftermath' Glynis Barber makes a very strong debut. She can look after herself, but we're also given hints of a tragic back story that are only expanded upon in 'Blake'. The next few episodes would see Soolin sidelined, but come 'Assassin' she would turn out to be one of the best female leads in B7.

Avon's mental instability and ruthless begin come to the fore here. It is of course ironic that he denies any feelings for the crew when he is just as dependant on them for his survival as Dorian is on the creature. In the end, it is not Avon's brains or Tarrant's heroism that save the day, but Vila's pragmatism.

This episode is also the last one to feature Cally, though the only thing that Jan Chapell does is say 'Blake' off camera. Whatever the reasons for her departure, Cally was a character that run out of steam by series 3. She was in the unfortunate position of only being interesting when she was possessed.

This wasn't Jan Chapell's fault. Children of Auron should have given the character a push in a whole new direction but none of the writers except Tanith Lee wanted to wxplore these possibilities. Dayna was already stealing Cally's limelight and another strong female character like Soolin was required.

Some people have argued that Series 4 is almost like a different programme to its predecessors. Rescue certainly feels very different to any story before it. The death of Cally is sudden, brutal and even more futile than Gan's. The crew have no ship and are dependent on a stranger for thier survival. Just how different things were going to be from here on would become apparent in the next few episodes._________________Everything in life is only for now.

Good start to the new series but poor Cally
First impression of soolin is that she looks like a cheeky scally in a tracksuit.
And was there a point to the wine being locked up? I thought it might have been something to do with the age regression of dorian...

I don't know why, but I prefer Scorpio over The Liberator. I really like the set and feel it looks more comfortable, the chairs on the flight deck certainly do, and I like the clothing. Avon's leather ensemble, Vila's jumpsuit and jacket with the targets (shadows of "Orbit"? ), Dayna's arrowhead pattered jumpsuit & Tarrant's grey jumpsuit with the green panels and white polo neck are the best costumes ever IMO. More practical than some of the stuff on The Liberator.

Dorian is a great character - evil, charming, sexy and wierd in equal measures. He's clearly bisexual - the look he gives Avon when he says he can indulge 'any vice' is very suggestive. His stuttering over the word 'partner' implies not just the first creature was originally his lover, but also that he regrets what he has done - recalling his literary namesake's agonies over the death of the innocent Sybil Vane. His kissing of Soolin is interesting. He obviously enjoys it but he also seems to be showing her to to the crew as a temptation - a honey trap.

I defintely got the impression that Dorian was bi-sexual. The way he spoke to Avon about "appetites" was a clue.
A good episode for introducing Xenon base and a good idea for the crew to find a place, wherre they could be relatively safe.

How did Dorian know Avon and
comrades would be stranded on Terminal? Any theories?

I watched Rescue again recently and I had that same thought! The only conclusion I came up with, was perhaps Doran was listening-in on the transmissions being sent too Avon from the communicatons satellite. Doran obviously knew they were en route to Terminal.

A few things still dont seem to make sense though! In Terminal stated that "All systems confirm Disentastra as nearest life-supporting planet" Given that Xenon was also 'life-supporting' how close/or far away from Disentastra was it, bearing in mind that Doran couldnt really travel too far away from the Gestalt without having to return!

Also, at the end of Terminal, why exactly was teleported to ' a federation world' ( as she stated in Sand) and bypassed both Disentastra or Xenon, unless of course Disentastra is a Federation world!!! Oh, my head Hurts _________________Wisdom must be gathered, it can not be given

It might have made more sense for Servalan to have ended up down on Terminal after the destruction of Liberator. Hidden from the survivors she could then have sent out a distress message that listed the five most wanted people in the galaxy as being on the planet and ripe for a collection (no doubt there was a large bounty on all their heads). This would have drawn every rogue, bounty hunter and criminal in the sector to make their way to Terminal. From there she could either hitch a lift with one of them or steal a ship and make her way back to Federation territory.

How did Dorian know Avon and
comrades would be stranded on Terminal? Any theories?

I watched Rescue again recently and I had that same thought! The only conclusion I came up with, was perhaps Doran was listening-in on the transmissions being sent too Avon from the communicatons satellite. Doran obviously knew they were en route to Terminal.

A few things still dont seem to make sense though! In Terminal stated that "All systems confirm Disentastra as nearest life-supporting planet" Given that Xenon was also 'life-supporting' how close/or far away from Disentastra was it, bearing in mind that Doran couldnt really travel too far away from the Gestalt without having to return!

Also, at the end of Terminal, why exactly was teleported to ' a federation world' ( as she stated in Sand) and bypassed both Disentastra or Xenon, unless of course Disentastra is a Federation world!!! Oh, my head Hurts

It might have made more sense for Servalan to have ended up down on Terminal after the destruction of Liberator. Hidden from the survivors

Might have worked, but dont forget she had mined the ship and the living quaters to explode, so little use was left of either after the explosions went off!

Also, another thing to mull over! Whilst Dorian knew that the crew were en route to Terminal, he also knew that Orac was with them, whilst he wanted the crew as an whole, he also needed Orac to help build his version of the Teleport, the only thing he didn't seem to know, was whom designed Orac _________________Wisdom must be gathered, it can not be given

Once again, Vila proves to be the smartest and bravest crew member: at the beginning he throws himself over Tarrant to protect Tarrant from the explosion, later he brings a federation gun from Scorpio because he doesn't trust anyone so he can save the day. However he also has poor vision - he and Dayna fall into a gigantic uncovered hole in the ground. Get some glasses!

There is a really nice shot of Dorian's ship at the beginning that we don't get again: it is taken through a doorway on the right of the flight deck.

Why let Dorian carry Orac.? Any of the rest of the crew could do it and Avon can trust them not to damage Orac or runaway with it.

When Tarrant moans to Dayna about being "old one day" it feels like,even after a whole season, we are getting bits of scripts clearly written for an older actor.

Luckily, there are 5 seats on Scorpio. If Cally had survived she would have no where to sit.....

Although Dorian seems smart - he is apparently unable to count and misses Vila at the end. very odd.

Overall a peculiar episode.... once again our heroes need the death of someone else to get what they want - in this case a base and ship. This topic is coming up repeatedly in "News from the FBC"... Strength through Unity is sounding better by the day...

I agree, Vila does show sime uncharacteristic bravery but let's also remember his Self-preservation instinct overrides everything causing him to leave Cally when the hatch starts to close and to only descend down the stairway enough to hand the gun to Avon._________________"Women, food, and inflicting pain -- in no particular order."
- The Fifth Legion